"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." - Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Filipino Murder Convict Executed in Saudi Arabia

Public beheading in Saudi Arabia

A Filipino murder convict was publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday after failing to meet the demand of the Sudanese victim's family for payment of $1 million to save him from the death penalty, officials said.

Joselito Lidasan Zapanta's execution was carried out after his family and the Philippine government managed to raise only 23 million pesos ($488,000), said Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose.

The victim's family refused to sign an affidavit of forgiveness that would have spared Zapanta the death penalty unless it was paid 48 million pesos ($1 million), setting a two-week deadline earlier this month for payment, Jose said.

Zapanta, a 35-year-old tile-setter, was convicted of murder and robbery by a Riyadh court in 2010.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the government "has undertaken and exhausted all diplomatic and legal efforts, and extended consular and legal assistance to preserve the life of Mr. Zapanta."

The plight of Filipino workers overseas is a sensitive issue in the Philippines. About a tenth of the country's 100 million people work abroad, including around 2.2 million in Saudi Arabia.

Jose said that 79 Filipinos are on death row in various countries, including 41 in Malaysia and 27 in Saudi Arabia.

The DFA earlier offered its condolences to the family of Zapanta, which managed to raise only P23 million of the P48 million blood money being asked by the Sudanese national's family.

OFW group Migrante also offered its sympathy to Zapanta's family.

Migrante chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado blamed the government for Zapanta's execution.

"This is another proof of government negligence. Its policy to provide legal assitance only when OFW is convicted and sentenced to death. Its failure will result to execution of our bagong bayani as in the case of Joselito," Regalado told GMA News Online.

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I oppose the death penalty in all cases, unconditionally, regardless of the method chosen to kill the condemned prisoner.
The death penalty is inherently cruel and degrading, a cruel punishment that is incompatible with human dignity.
To end the death penalty is to abandon a destructive diversionary and divisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held values.
The death penalty not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also costly to the public purse as well as in social and psychological terms.
The death penalty has not been proved to have a special deterrent effect.
It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way on grounds of race and class.
It denies the possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation.
It prolongs the suffering of the murder victim's family and extends that suffering to the loved ones of the condemned prisoner.
It diverts resources that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it.
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